Insania for City Council

What I almost universally find is that people agree with my points of view on almost everything offered up on the Franklin Monologues. Why would that be? I am most certainly not a persuasive speaker. I don't have a consistent writing voice. But it sure seems that very few people question my viewpoints directly. Again...why would that be?

Massive discussions were underway this evening between myself, my brother in law, my nephew and my nephew's daughter. With a few beers in me my contempt for Elk Grove was displayed in spades. And I wasn't once questioned. Even without alcohol I'm rarely questioned by co-workers, friends or relatives.

I hold a minority viewpoint. I know my views are radical, mis-understood, and unpopular...but likewise I'm not preaching Engels or Marx here...I'm speaking a language I think everyone understands but fails to appreciate. It seems most people know that things are not right with the way we've laid out our environments, our financial structures, our architectures, and our social interactions, but fail to recognize them on an everyday basis.

So I will go out on a limb and assume that most people actually agree with me...but it clearly isn't as important to them. That's fine. We all find our own little things to hang our hats on. At the present, my peeves lie in my Elk Grove suburban realm. Five years ago it was the electric industry. Ten years ago it was the global environment. Fifteen years ago I really didn't care about anything in particular, I just wanted to make money and start a family and everyone and everything else could go pound sand.

With a little different nudging back in 1991, today I could be blogging about gay rights, the plight of the migrant farmworker, NASA funding, or the Republican National Convention. But the difference between these issues and what I raise in the Franklin Monologues is that everyone almost always takes one side or the other on all the other arguments but rarely takes issue with what I offer.

Is there anyone who truly thinks that 60-foot wide residential streets would be better than 40 footers? That trees really don't mean anything to a community? That our zoning laws or our setback requirements harm quality human interactions? That we in a primordial sense shouldn't look out for the welfare of others? These define my Monologues and in some deeper sense I really think most people would believe in what I write if it were broadcasted widely and intelligently.

The will of one person rarely carries any weight, but a groundswell of people with similar views can go far. At the moment, I'm content with blogging about things I don't like but perhaps over time I will parlay this into meaningful action.